Farewell, Kodachrome

This article makes me very sad. Kodachrome has been discontinued. The last lab which process it will stop doing so later on this year. I've got to go through my stuff and make sure there are no stray rolls in a camera bag or a box.

Kodachrome is a beautiful film. I love being able to open a box of slides that is older than I am and look at the spectacular color. I know that I won't be able to retrieve images I've made since going digital unless I make a concerted effort to migrate files to new storage devices and the newest operating systems. With Kodachrome, I simply open the box.

Some of my favorite images were made on Kodachrome, with its rich reds and deep saturation. And, unlike many of my Ektachrome images, it doesn't fade easily. I look forward to having my files of photographs easily accessible to me very soon, after years of being in storage. But I know that the slides I made in 1974 and 1975 when camping across the United States and Canada are likely to be in need of restoration.

I processed those E-6 images myself, improvising a dark room in a bathroom. Each tank took an hour, with temperatures that could vary from bath to bath by only half a degree. It was magic, but it wasn't Kodachrome, with its exacting standards and (reportedly) toxic chemicals which could not be processed at home.

I interviewed for a job at the Kodak lab in Palo Alto back in 1974. I needed a job, but working assembly-line style for minimum wage would not have suited me at all. That lab, if it is still around, no longer processes Kodachrome. I think there was a Kodak lab in Gaithersburg, when I lived in the D.C. area. No more. A & I on Highland was my lab here in L.A., but it hasn't processed Kodachrome for a very long time.

It is sad that Paul Simon refused the invitation to be immortalized on the last roll of Kodachrome film. But I still think that his song "Kodachrome" did a great job of capturing what the film was all about.

APA-LA Seminar, May 20, 2010

I received the following information about a seminar that APA-LA is sponsoring tonight:

"Video: The Next Step" with Fernando Escovar

Video: The Next Step

Photographers are more than just photographers. They are directors and producers and often are asked if they can shoot and edit video along with the current shoot or even asked to direct or shoot video content. The question usually is "Can you do it"?

Fernando discusses the "The Next Step" as a photographer grows and starts to explore and shoot SD video or HD. Whether its YouTube, or a clients video this is the new area that photographers need to get into to develop the language and skills to go next level.

Fernando will touch on various editing software, cameras, editing and out-put as well as encoding and formats. The arrival of Canon's new 7D camera and the FLIP video HD, they both have sparked the film maker in all of us. This is a great time to get on board and blend your photography with your video productions.

Fernando Escovar, photographer turned director producer with clientele like E! Networks, NASCAR, and Discovery Channel. Fernando also produced two DVD's sponsored by Photoflex on Photographing Cars & Swimsuits. You can view Fernando's photography at www.fotographer.com

Fernando will have intructional DVD's available.

Fernando studied at Otis Parson Los Angeles and for the last 5 years produced seminars for Samy's & Helix camera.

May 20, 2010
6-9pm

MIAUHAUS
1201 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles


APA members: FREE
$20 fee for non-members
Dinner and networking included

Valet Service is Available

APA Members RSVP Director@APA-LA.com
Non-Members please make payment by visiting Events Page